Following Tuesday's victory for the rail referendum, the City Council might decide to switch the route of the proposed elevated commuter line to include a stop at Honolulu International Airport instead of going through Salt Lake.

The Salt Lake route was the product of a political compromise to win the support of council member Romy Cachola. Cachola, who represents the Salt Lake area, held the swing vote when the council approved the project in 2007. He threatened to vote against rail unless it was routed through Salt Lake.

But now that voters approved rail — by 52.6 percent to 47.4 percent — at least one council member is willing to switch his vote to support the project, and several members said they are interested in revisiting the airport option.

"While I disagree with the wisdom to move forward with rail, I will respect the voters' decision," said City Councilman Charles Djou yesterday. "Now let's make sure we do it and we do it right.

"The Salt Lake route doesn't make sense. If we're going to do it right, we should connect the airport and Pearl Harbor. That will be a discussion that we'll need to take a look at."

Djou's willingness to vote for rail now means the council no longer needs Cachola's support to have a majority for rail.

If the council changes the route to the airport, it would raise the cost of the project by about $200 million to $4.5 billion, up from $4.3 billion now. However, an airport route also could build support for the controversial project.

"That's one of the major points of contention people have," council member Gary Okino said. "I think that all comes into play now again. The airport route, that will become a major issue at this point."

Cachola yesterday said he wouldn't support moving the route back to the airport.

"I'm not fully aware of this and neither is the community," he said. "I think our community will be (upset) if anybody is going to do that and they will not forget it. Commitments were made to leaders of the community. From what I read it's still cheaper to go to Salt Lake."

at least 5 votes

To change the train's route back to the airport, the council would need at least five votes. Prior to Tuesday's election, the four most solid supporters of rail were Okino, Todd Apo, Nestor Garcia and Rod Tam. Those four along with Cachola voted for a rail route through Salt Lake in early 2007.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann favored an airport route, but compromised to win Cachola's support for rail. A spokesman for Hannemann didn't return a call seeking comment yesterday on the possible switch to the airport route.

Council members Djou and Barbara Marshall have consistently opposed the rail project. They, along with council members Ann Kobayashi and Donovan Dela Cruz, voted against the Salt Lake route.

Garcia and Apo yesterday said they're open to discussing a switch to the airport route.

"With that (Tuesday's) vote, we should be able to take a look at all options available to us," Garcia said. "I wouldn't mind having that (airport route) discussion again.

"If we're going to put something on the ground, let's do it right."

However, a prolonged discussion about the rail's route could interfere with plans to begin construction in December 2009.

The sooner the route debate begins, the better, Apo said. He said a bill proposing to amend the train's route to include the airport will be introduced by a council member "very soon."

"I have always said getting to Pearl Harbor and the airport is the better route," he said. "It's what we should have been at. Now that we're moving forward with this we need to get that corrected. And we need to get that correction done now."

higher cost

According to a draft environmental impact statement released Sunday, the planned Salt Lake route will cost $4.3 billion, including $821 million to cover contingencies. The study found the project is affordable using existing state transit tax surcharges and federal funding.

The study said more federal money would be needed to fund an airport route, which would cost $4.5 billion. However, that figure includes $862 million in contingency costs. Excluding that cushion, the airport route's estimated cost is $3.8 billion, according to the study.

Apo said the city could rely on a portion of that buffer as well as added federal funds and possibly new state funds to pay for the costlier airport route.

Michael Schneider, managing partner for city consultant InfraConsult LLC, which provides management support on the train project, said the current route through Salt Lake is the most affordable option.

"It would seem that the nominal plan on the table is the most affordable," he said. "Building a slightly more complex route or building a bypass with the existing line — of course that will be more expensive.

"The way the council and the administration approach that remains to be seen," Schneider added. "Contrary to opinion we will not build something that is unaffordable."

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.